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THE VALKYRIES

A n Encounter

w i t h Angels

PAULO COELHO

Translated by

ALAN R CLARKE

And an angel descended where they w e r e and the glory of the L o r d shone all about them.

Luke 2:9

Prologue

“Something that is of great importance to me?” J thought for a few moments before

responding “Magic.”

“No, something else,” Paulo insisted

“Women,” J said “Magic and women.”

Paulo laughed

“They're important to me, too,” he said “Although marriage has slowed me down a bit.”

It was J.'s turn to laugh

“A bit,” he said “Just a bit.”

Paulo filled his master's glass with wine It had been four months since they had seen each other, and this was a quite special night Paulo wanted to talk for a while longer, build the suspense, before giving J the package he had brought

“I used to imagine the great masters as people who were far removed from the world,” he said

to J “If you had answered me that way a few years ago, I think I would have abandoned my apprenticeship.”

“You should have done that,” J said, sipping at his wine “And I would have found a beautiful woman disciple to take your place.”

They drank the entire bottle of wine as they sat talking in the restaurant located on the top floor

of J.'s hotel They spoke of work, magic, and women J was euphoric about the huge contract

he had just negotiated for the Dutch multinational for which he worked And Paulo was excited about the package he had brought with him

“Let's have another bottle,” Paulo said

“In honor of what?”

“Your coming to Rio de Janeiro… The beautiful view from the window over there… And the present I've brought you.”

J looked out the window to see Copacabana beach sparkling below “The view deserves a toast,” he said, signaling to the waiter

When they were halfway through the second bottle, Paulo placed the package on the table.Looking at J., he said, “If you were to ask me what is important to me, I would say: my master

It was he who taught me to understand that love is the only thing that never fails He who had the patience to lead me along the intricate paths of magic He who had the courage and dignity,

despite his powers, to present himself always as a person with some doubts and with certain weaknesses He who helped me to understand the forces that can transform our lives.”

“We've had a lot of wine,” J said “I don't want to get serious.”

“I'm not talking about serious things I'm talking about joyful things I'm talking about love.”

He pushed the package to J.'s side of the table “Open it.”

“What is his?”

“A way of saying thank you And of passing on to others all the love you taught me.”

J opened the package It contained almost two hundred typed pages, on the first of which was

written “The Alchemist.”

Paulo's eyes were gleaming

“It's a new book,” he said “Look at the next page.”

There was an inscription written in longhand: “For J., the alchemist who knows and uses the secrets of the Great Work.”

Paulo had anxiously awaited this moment He had been able to keep completely secret the fact that he was writing a new book, even though he knew that J had really liked his previous book

“This is the original manuscript,” Paulo continued “I'd like you to read it before I send it to the publisher.”

He tried to read the expression in his master's eyes, but they were impenetrable

“I have meetings all day tomorrow, J said, “so I'll be able to read it only at night Let's have lunch two days from now.”

Paulo had been expecting a different reaction He thought that J would be happy, and moved

by the inscription

“Let's do that,” said Paulo, hiding his disappointment “I'll be back in two days.”

J called for the check They walked silently to the elevator J pushed the button for the

eleventh floor

When the elevator stopped at his floor, J pushed the Emergency button to hold the door open Then he approached Paulo and said, “May the Lamb of God protect you,” making a sign on the forehead of his disciple

Paulo embraced his master and said good night Resetting the button, J stepped out of the elevator

“Why didn't you make copies of the original?” he asked, as the door began to close.

“In order to give God the chance to make it disappear, if that was his will.”

“Wise decision,” Paulo heard J say as the door closed “I hope that the literary critics never discover where it is.”

They met two days later, at the same restaurant

J began, “There are certain secrets of alchemy described in your book Secrets I never discussed with you And you presented them quite correctly.”

Paulo was delighted This was just what he wanted to hear

“Well, I've been studying,” he explained

“No, you haven't been studying,” J said “Yet what you've written about is correct.”

“I can't fool him,” Paulo thought “I'd like him to think I'm dedicated, but I can't fool him.”

He looked outside The sun was glaring, and the beach was crowded

“What do you see in that immense sky?” J asked

“Clouds.”

“No,” J said “You see the soul of the rivers Rivers that have just been reborn in the sea They will rise to the sky, and remain there until, for whatever reason, they once again become rain and fall to earth

“The rivers return to the mountains, but carry with them the wisdom of the sea.”

J poured himself some mineral water He didn't usually drink during the day

“That is how you discovered those secrets we had never discussed, J said “You are a river You have already run down to the sea, and you know its wisdom You have died and been reborn many times All you have to do is remember.”

Paulo was happy It was a kind of praise: His master said that he had “discovered secrets.” But

he was unable to ask openly which secrets they were

“I have a new task for you,” J said Silently, he thought, It has to do with your book Because I

know it's very important to you, and it doesn't deserve to be destroyed But Paulo didn't need to

hear about that

One week later, J and Paulo walked together through the airport Paulo wanted to know more about the task that his master had assigned him the week before, but J carefully avoided

conversation They sat down at a table in the cafeteria

“We were able to have dinner together only twice during my stay here in Rio,” J began, “and this is our third It's in observance of the saying 'Anything that occurs once can never occur again But, should it happen twice, it will surely happen a third time.'”

J was trying to avoid the subject, but Paulo persevered He knew now that his master had liked the book's dedication, because he had overheard a conversation between J and the receptionist

at the hotel And later, one of J.'s friends had referred to Paulo as “the book's author.”

He must have told a number of people about it–there was, after all, only one copy of the

original Vanity of vanities, he said to himself He thanked God for having given him a master so

human

“I want to ask you about the task,” Paulo said once again “I don't want to ask 'how' or 'where,', because I know you won't tell me.”

“Well, that's one thing you've learned in all this time,” J laughed

“In one of our conversations,” Paulo continued, “you told me about a man named Gene, who was able to do what you are now asking of me I'm going to look for him.”

“Did I give you his address?”

“You mentioned that he lived in the United States, in the California desert It shouldn't be too hard to get there.”

“No, it isn't.”

As they spoke, Paulo became aware that the voice on the public address system was continually announcing flight departures He began to feel tense, fearing there wouldn't be enough time to complete their conversation

“Even though I don't want to know 'how' or 'where,' you taught me that there is a question we should always ask as we undertake something I'm asking you that question now: Why? Why must I do this?”

“Because people always kill the things they love,” J replied

As Paulo pondered the mystery of this answer, once again he heard a departure announced

“That's my plane,” J said “I have to go.”

“But I don't understand your answer to my question.”

Asking Paulo to pay the bill, J quickly wrote something on a paper napkin

Placing the napkin on the table in front of his disciple, J said, “During the last century, a man wrote about what I've just said to you But it's been true for many generations.”

Paulo picked up the napkin For a fraction of a second, he thought it might contain a magic formula But it was a verse from a poem

And each man kills the thing he loves,

By all let this be heard,

Some do it with a bitter look,

Some with a flattering word,

The coward does it with a kiss,

The brave man with a sword

The waiter came with the change, but Paulo didn't notice He couldn't stop looking at those terrible words

“And so, the task,” J said after a long silence “It's needed to break that curse.”

“One way or another,” Paulo said slowly, “I have wound up destroying what I've loved I've seen my dreams fall apart just when I seemed about to achieve them I always thought that was just the way life was My life and everyone else's.”

“The curse can be broken,” J repeated, “if you complete the task.”

They walked through the noisy airport in silence J was thinking about the books that his disciple had written He thought about Chris, Paulo's wife He knew that Paulo was being drawn toward the magical initiation that appears at one time or another in everyone's life

He knew that Paulo was on the brink of seeing one of his greatest dreams realized

And this meant danger, because J.'s disciple was like all human beings: He was going to find that he did not necessarily deserve all that he had received

But he didn't tell Paulo any of this

“The women of your country are beautiful,” J said with a smile, as they arrived at the passport control line “I hope I can come back.”

But Paulo spoke seriously

“So that's what the task is for,” he said, as his master handed over his passport for stamping

“To break the curse.”

And J answered, just as seriously “It's for love For victory And for the glory of God.”

THEY HAD BEEN DRIVING FOR ALMOST SIX HOURS FOR THE hundredth time, he asked the woman at his side if they were on the right road.

For the hundredth time, she looked at the map Yes, they were going the right way, even though their surroundings were green, and a river ran nearby, and there were trees along the road

“I think we should stop at a gas station and check,” she said

They drove on without speaking, listening to old songs on the radio Chris knew that it wasn't necessary to stop at a gas station, because they were on the right road–even if the scenery

around them was completely different from what they had expected But she knew her husband well Paulo was nervous and uncertain, thinking that she was misreading the map He would feel better if they stopped and asked

“What are we doing here?”

“I have a task to perform,” he answered

“Strange task,” she said

Very strange, he thought To speak to his guardian angel.

“Okay,” she said after a while, “you're here to speak to your guardian angel Meanwhile, how about talking a bit with me?”

But he said nothing, concentrating on the road, thinking again that she had made a mistake

about the route No point in insisting, she thought She was hoping they would come upon a gas

station soon

They had headed out on their journey straight from Los Angeles International Airport She was afraid that Paulo was tired, and might fall asleep at the wheel They didn't seem to be anywhere near their destination

I should have married an engineer, she said to herself.

She had never gotten used to his life–taking off suddenly, looking for sacred pathways, swords, conversing with angels, doing everything possible to move further along the path to magic

He has always wanted to leave everything behind.

She remembered their first date They had slept together, and within a week she had moved her art work table into his apartment Their friends said that Paulo was a sorcerer, and one night Chris had telephoned the minister of the Protestant church she attended, asking him to say a prayer

But during that first year, he had said not one word about magic He was working at a recording studio, and that seemed to be all he was concerned about.

The following year, life was the same He quit his job and went to work at another studio.During their third year together, he quit his job again (a mania for leaving everything behind!) and decided to write scripts for TV She found it strange, the way he changed jobs every

year–but he was writing, earning money, and they were living well

Then, at the end of their third year together, he decided–once again–to quit his job He gave no explanation, saying only that he was fed up with what he was doing, that it didn't make sense to keep quitting his jobs, changing one for another He needed to discover what it was that he wanted They had put some money aside, and had decided to do some traveling

In a car, Chris thought, just like we're doing now.

Chris had met J for the first time in Amsterdam, when they were having coffee at a cafe in the Brower Hotel, looking out at the Singel canal Paulo had turned pale when he saw the tall, white-haired man dressed in a business suit Despite his anxiety, he finally worked up the

courage to approach the older man's table

That night, when Paulo and Chris were alone again, he drank an entire bottle of wine He wasn't good drinker, and became drunk Only then did he reveal what she already knew: that for seven years he had dedicated himself to learning magic Then, for some reason–which he never explained, although she asked about it a number of times–he had given it all up

“I had a vision of J two months ago, when we visited Dachau,” Paulo said

Chris remembered that day Paulo had wept He said that he was being called but didn't know how to respond

“Should I go back to magic?” he had asked

“Yes, you should,” she had answered, but she wasn't sure

Since Amsterdam, everything had changed There were rituals, exercises, practices There were long trips with J., with no defined date of return There were long meetings with strange

women, and men who had an aura of sensuality about them There were challenges and tests, long nights when he didn't sleep, and long weekends when he never left the house But Paulo was much happier, and he no longer thought about quitting his job Together they had founded

a small publishing house, and he was doing something he'd dreamed of for a long time: writing books

Finally, a gas station As a young Native American woman filled the tank, Paulo and Chris took

a stroll.

Paulo looked at the map and confirmed the route Yes, they were on the right road

Now he can relax Now he'll talk a bit, Chris thought.

“Did J say you were to meet with your angel here?” she asked hesitantly

“No,” he replied

Great, he gave me an answer, she thought, as she looked out at the brilliant green vegetation, lit

by the setting sun If she hadn't checked the map so often, she too would have doubted this was the right road The map said that they should be at their destination in another six miles or so, but the scenery seemed to be telling them they had a long way to go

“I didn't have to come here,” Paulo continued “Any place would do But I have a contact here.”

Of course Paulo always had contacts He referred to such people as members of the Tradition; but when Chris described them in her diary, she referred to them as the “Conspiracy.” Among them were sorcerers and witch doctors–the kind of people one has nightmares about

“Someone who speaks with angels?”

“I'm not sure One time, J referred–just in passing–to a master of the Tradition who lives here, and who knows how to communicate with the angels But that might just be a rumor.”

He might have been speaking seriously, but Chris knew that he might also have just selected a place at random, one of the many places where he had “contacts.” A place that was far from their daily life, and where he could concentrate better on the Extraordinary

“How are you going to speak to your angel?”

“I don't know,” he replied

What a strange way to live, thought Chris She looked at her husband as he walked over to pay

the bill All she knew was that he felt he had to speak with the angels, and that was that! Drop everything, jump on a plane, fly for twelve hours from Brazil to Los Angeles, drive for six hours

to this gas station, arm himself with enough patience to remain here for forty days: all of this in order to speak–or rather, try to speak–with his guardian angel!

He laughed at her, and she smiled back After all, this wasn't all that bad They had their

occasional daily irritations–paying bills, cashing checks, paying courtesy calls, accepting some tough times

But they still believed in angels

“We'll do it,” she said

“Thanks for the 'we,'” he answered with a smile “But I'm the magus around here.”

THE WOMAN AT THE STATION HAD SAID THEY WERE GOING in the right direction–about ten more minutes They drove in silence Paulo turned the radio off There was a small elevation, but only when they reached the top did they realize how high up they were They had been climbing steadily for six hours, without realizing it.

But they were there

He parked on the shoulder and turned off the motor Chris looked back in the direction from which they had come to see if it was true: Yes, she could see green trees, plants, vegetation.But there in front of them, extending from horizon to horizon, was the Mojave Desert: the enormous desert that spreads into many states and into Mexico, the desert she had seen so many times in Westerns when she was a child, the desert that had places with strange names like the Rainbow Forest and Death Valley

It's pink, Chris thought, but she didn't say anything He was staring out at its immensity, trying

to determine where the angels dwelt

If you stand in the middle of the main park, you can see where the town of Borrego Springs begins and where it ends But there are three hotels for the winter tourists who come there for the sun

They left their luggage in the room and went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner The waiter stood nearby for some time, trying to determine what language they were speaking Finally, when he couldn't figure it out, he asked When they said they were from Brazil, he said he had never met a Brazilian before

“Well, now you've met two,” Paulo laughed

By the next day, the entire town will have heard about it, he thought There's not much news in Borrego Springs.

After their meal, they walked about the town, hand in hand Paulo wanted to wander out into the desert, get the feel of it, breathe in the air of the Mojave So they meandered over the

desert's rocky floor for a half hour, at last stopping to look back at the few distant lights of Borrego Springs

There in the desert, the heavens were clear They sat on the ground and made their separate wishes on the falling stars There was no moon, and the constellations stood out brilliantly

“Have you ever had the feeling, at certain moments in your life, that someone was observing what you were doing?” Paulo asked Chris

“How did you know that?”

“I just know There are moments when, without really knowing it, we are aware of the presence

of angels.”

Chris thought back to her adolescence In those days, she had had that feeling very strongly

“At such moments,” he continued, “we begin to create a kind of film in which we are the main character, and we are certain that someone is observing our actions

“But then, as we get older, we begin to think that such things are ridiculous We think of it as having been just a child's fantasy of being a movie actor We forget that, at those moments in which we are presenting ourselves before an invisible audience, the sensation of being observed was very strong.”

He paused for a moment

“When I look up at the night sky, that feeling often returns, and my question is always the same: Who is out there watching us?”

“And who is it?”

“Angels God's messengers.”

She stared up at the heavens, wanting to believe what he had said

“All religions, and every person who has ever witnessed the Extraordinary, speak of angels,” Paulo went on “The universe is populated with angels It's they who give us hope Like the one who announced that the Messiah had been born They also bring death, like the exterminating angel that traveled through Egypt destroying all those who did not display the right sign at their door Angels with flaming swords in their hands can prevent us from entering into paradise Or they can invite us in, as the angel did to Mary

“Angels remove the seals placed on prohibited books, and they sound the trumpets on the day of Final Judgment They bring the light, as Michael did, or darkness, as Lucifer did.”

Hesitantly, Chris asked, “Do they have wings?”

“Well, I haven't seen an angel yet,” he answered “But I wondered about that, too I asked J about it.”

That's good, she thought At least I'm not the only one who has simple questions about the angels.

“J said that they take whatever form a person imagines they have Because they are God's thoughts in live form, and they need to adapt to our wisdom and our knowledge They know that if they don't, we'll be unable to see them.”

Paulo closed his eyes

“Imagine your angel, and you will feel its presence right now, right here.”

They fell quiet, lying there on the floor of the desert There was not a sound to be heard, and Chris began once again to feel like she was in a film, playing to an invisible audience The more intensely she concentrated, the more certain she was that all around her there was a strong presence, friendly and generous She began to imagine her angel, dressed in blue, with golden hair and immense white wings–exactly as she had pictured her angel as a child

Paulo was imagining his angel, as well He had already immersed himself many times in the invisible world that surrounded them, so it was not a new experience for him But now, since J had assigned him this task, he felt that his angel was much more present–as if the angels made themselves available only to those who believed in their existence He knew, though, that whether one believed in them or not, they were always there–messengers of life, of death, of hell, and of paradise

He dressed his angel in a long robe, embroidered in gold And he also gave his angel wings

THE HOTEL WATCHMAN, EATING HIS BREAKFAST, TURNED TO them as they came in

“I wouldn't go out into the desert at night again,” he said

This really is a small town, Chris thought Everybody knows what you're doing.

“It's dangerous in the desert at night,” the guard explained “That's when the coyotes come out, and the snakes They can't stand the heat of the day, so they do their hunting after the sun goes down.”

“We were looking for our angels,” Paulo said

The watchman thought that the man didn't speak English very well What he had said didn't make sense Angels! Perhaps he'd meant something else

The two finished their coffee quickly Paulo's “contact” had set their meeting for early in the morning

CHRIS WAS SURPRISED WHEN SHE SAW GENE FOR THE first time He was quite young, certainly not more than twenty, and he lived in a trailer out in the desert, several miles from Borrego Springs

“This is a master of the Conspiracy?” she whispered to Paulo, when the youth had gone to fetch some iced tea

But Gene was back before Paulo could respond They sat under an awning that extended along the side of the trailer

They talked about the rituals of the Templars, about reincarnation, about Sufi magic, about the Catholic church in Latin America The boy seemed to know a great deal, and it was amusing to listen to their conversation–they sounded like fans discussing a popular sport, defending certain tactics and criticizing others.

They spoke of everything–except angels

The heat of the day was intensifying They drank more tea as Gene, smiling agreeably, told them

of the marvels of the desert He warned them that novices should never go into it at night, and that it would be smart to avoid the hottest hours of the day, as well

“The desert is made of mornings and afternoons,” he said “The other times are risky.”

Chris listened to their conversation for as long as she could But she had awakened early, and the sun was getting stronger and stronger She decided she'd close her eyes and take a quick nap

WHEN SHE AWOKE, THE SOUND OF THEIR VOICES WAS coming from a different place The two men were at the rear of the trailer

“Why did you bring your wife?” she heard Gene ask in a guarded tone

“Because I was coming to the desert,” Paulo answered, also whispering

Gene laughed

“But you're missing what's best about the desert The solitude.”

What a cheeky kid, Chris thought.

“Tell me about the Valkyries you mentioned,” Paulo said

“They can help you to find your angel,” replied Gene “They're the ones who instructed me But the Valkyries are jealous and tough They try to follow the same rules as the angels–and, you know, in the kingdom of the angels, there is no good and no evil.”

“Not as we understand them,” Paulo countered

Chris had no idea what they meant by “Valkyries.” She had a vague memory of having heard the name in the title of an opera

“Was it difficult for you to see your angel?”

“A better word would be anguishing It happened all of a sudden, back in the days when the

Valkyries came through here I decided I'd learn the process just for the fun of it, because at that point, I didn't yet understand the language of the desert, and I was upset about everything that was happening to me

“My angel appeared on that third mountain peak I was up there just wandering and listening to music on my Walkman In those days, I had already mastered the second mind.”

What the hell is the “second mind”? Chris wondered.

“Was it your father who taught it to you?”

“No And when I asked him why he had never told me about the angels, he told me that some things are so important that you have to learn about them on your own.”

They were silent for a moment

“If you meet with the Valkyries, there's something that will make it easier for you to get along with them,” Gene said

“What's that?”

The young man laughed

“You'll find out But it would have been a lot better if you hadn't brought your wife along.”

“Did your angel have wings?” Paulo asked

Before Gene could answer, Chris had arisen from her folding chair, come around the trailer, and now stood before them

“Why is he making such a big thing about your coming here alone?” she asked, speaking

Portuguese “Do you want me to leave?”

Gene went on with what he was saying to Paulo, paying no attention whatsoever to Chris's interruption She waited for Paulo's answer–but she might just as well have been invisible

“Give me the keys to the car,” she said, at the limit of her patience

“What does your wife want?” Gene finally asked

“She wants to know what the 'second mind' is.”

Damn! Nine years we've been together, and this stranger already knows all about us!

Gene stood up

“Sit down, close your eyes, and I will show you what the second mind is,” he said

“I didn't come here to the desert to learn about magic or converse with angels,” Chris said “I came only to be with my husband.”

“Sit down,” Gene insisted, smiling

She looked at Paulo for a fraction of a second, but was unable to determine what he was

I respect their world, but it has nothing to do with me, she thought Although all their friends

thought that she had become completely involved in her husband's lifestyle, the fact was that she and he had spoken very little of it to one another She was used to going with him to certain places, and had once even carried his sword for purposes of a ceremony She knew the Road to Santiago, and had–because of their relationship–learned quite a bit about sexual magic But that was all J had never proposed that he teach her anything

“What should I do?” she asked Paulo

“Whatever you think,” he answered

I love you, she thought If she were to learn something about his world, there was no doubt it

would bring them even closer She went back to her chair, sat down, and closed her eyes

“What are you thinking about?” Gene asked her

“About what you two were discussing About Paulo traveling by himself About the second mind Whether his angel has wings And why this should interest me at all I mean, I don't think I've ever spoken to angels.”

“No, no I want to know whether you're thinking about something else Something beyond your control.”

She felt his hands touching both sides of her head

“Relax Relax.” His voice was gentle “What are you thinking?”

There were sounds And voices It was only now that she realized what she was thinking, although it had been there for almost an entire day

“A melody,” she answered “I've been singing this melody to myself ever since I heard it

yesterday on the radio on our way here.”

It was true, she had been humming the melody incessantly To the end, and then once again, and then from start to finish again She couldn't get it out of her mind

Gene asked that she open her eyes

“That's the second mind,” he said “It's your second mind that's humming the song It can do that with anything If you're in love with someone, you can have that person inside your head The same thing happens with someone you want to forget about But the second mind is a tough thing to deal with It's at work regardless of whether you want it to be or not.”

He laughed

“A song! We're always impassioned about something And it's not always a song Have you ever had someone you loved stick in your mind? It's really terrible when that happens You travel,

you try to forget, but your second mind keeps saying: 'Oh, he would really love that!' 'Oh, if only

he were here.'”

Chris was astonished She had never thought of such a thing as a second mind

She had two minds Functioning at the same time

GENE CAME TO HER SIDE

“Close your eyes again,” he said “And try to remember the horizon you were looking at.”

She tried to recall it “I can't,” she said, her eyes still closed “I wasn't looking at the horizon I know that it's all around me, but I wasn't looking at it.”

“Open your eyes and look at it.”

Chris looked out at the horizon She saw mountains, rocks, stones, and sparse and spindly vegetation A sun that shone brighter and brighter seemed to pierce her sunglasses and burn into her eyes

“You are here,” Gene said, now with a serious tone of voice “Try to understand that you are here, and that the things that surround you change you–in the same way that you change them.”Chris stared at the desert

“In order to penetrate the invisible world and develop your powers, you have to live in the

present, the here and now In order to live in the present, you have to control your second mind

And look at the horizon.”

Gene asked her to concentrate on the melody that she had been humming It was “When I Fall

in Love.” She didn't know the words, and had been making them up, or just singing a

ta-de-dum

Chris concentrated In a few moments, the melody disappeared She was now completely alert, listening only to Gene's words

But Gene seemed to have nothing more to say

“I have to be alone now,” he said “Come back in two days.”

PAULO AND CHRIS LOCKED THEMSELVES INSIDE THEIR AIR-CONDITIONED hotel room,

unwilling to confront the 110 degrees of the midday desert No books to read, nothing to do They tried taking a nap, but couldn't sleep

“Let's explore the desert,” Paulo said

“It's too hot out there Gene said it was even dangerous Let's do it tomorrow.”

Paulo didn't answer He was certain he could turn the fact that he was locked into his hotel room into a learning experience He tried to make sense of everything that happened in his life, and used conversation only as means for discharging tension

But it was impossible; trying to find a meaning in everything meant he had to remain alert and tense Paulo never relaxed, and Chris had often asked herself when he would tire of his

intensity

“Who is Gene?”

“His father is a powerful magus, and he wants Gene to maintain the family tradition–like

engineers who want their children to follow in their footsteps.”

“He's young, but he wants to act mature,” Chris commented “And he's giving up the best years

of his life out here in the desert.”

“Everything has its price If Gene goes through all this–and doesn't abandon the Tradition–he'll

be the first in a line of young masters to be integrated into a world that the older masters,

although they understand it, no longer know how to explain.”

Paulo lay down and started to read the only book available, The Guide to Lodging in the Mojave

Desert He didn't want to tell his wife that, in addition to what he had already told her, there

was another reason that Gene was here: He was powerful in the paranormal processes, and had been prepared by the Tradition to be ready to act when the gates to paradise opened

Chris wanted to talk She felt anxious cooped up in the hotel room, and had decided not to

“make sense of everything,” as her husband did She was not there to seek a place within a community of the elite

“I didn't really understand what Gene was trying to teach me,” she said “The solitude and the desert can increase your contact with the invisible world But I think it causes us to lose contact with other people.”

“He probably has a girlfriend or two around here,” Paulo said, wanting to avoid conversation

If I have to spend another thirty-nine days locked up with Paulo, I'll commit suicide, she

promised herself

THAT AFTERNOON, THEY WENT TO A COFFEE SHOP ACROSS the street from the hotel Paulo chose a table by the window They ordered ice cream Chris had spent several hours studying her second mind, and had learned to control it much better than before, but her appetite was never subject to control

Paulo said, “I want you to pay close attention to the people who pass by.”

She did as Paulo had asked In the next half hour, only five people passed by.

“What did you see?”

She described the people in detail–their clothing, approximate age, what they were carrying But apparently that wasn't what he wanted to hear He insisted on more, trying to get a better answer, but couldn't do so

“Okay,” he said “I'm going to tell you what it was that I wanted you to notice: All the people who passed by in the street were looking down.”

They waited for some time before another person walked by Paulo was right

“Gene asked you to look to the horizon Try that.”

“What do you mean?”

“All of us create a kind of 'magic space' around us Usually it's a circle with about a fifteen-foot radius, and we pay attention to what goes on within it It doesn't matter whether it's people, tables, telephones, or windows; we try to maintain control over that small world that we,

ourselves, create

“A magus, though, always looks much further We expand that 'magic space' and try to control a great many more things They call it 'looking at the horizon.'”

“Well, why should I do that?”

“Because you're here If you do it, you'll see how much things change.”

When they left the coffee shop, she started to pay attention to things in the distance She

noticed the mountains, the occasional cloud that appeared as the sun began to set, and–in a strange way–she seemed to be seeing the air about her

“Everything Gene told you is important,” Paulo said “He has already seen and talked with his angel, and he is using you as a means of instructing me He knows the power of his words, and

he knows that advice not heeded is returned to its giver, losing its energy He needs to be sure that you are interested in what he tells you.”

“Well, why doesn't he show these things directly to you?”

“Because there is an unwritten rule in the Tradition: A master never teaches another master's disciple And he knows I am J.'s disciple But since he wants to be of help to me, he is using you for that purpose.”

“Is that why you brought me here?”

“No It was because I was afraid of being alone in the desert.”

He could have said it was because he loves me, she thought That would have been more

THEY STOPPED THE CAR ON THE SHOULDER OF THE narrow dirt road Two days had passed, and they were to meet Gene that night–Gene, who had told her always to look to the horizon She was excited about their meeting

But it was still morning And the days in the desert were long

She looked out at the horizon: mountains that suddenly sprang up millions of years ago, crossing

the desert in a long cordillera Although the earthquakes that created them had occurred long

ago, one could still see how the earth's surface had buckled–the ground still climbed smoothly toward the mountains, and then, at a certain altitude, a kind of wound opened, out of which rocks sprang, pointing to the sky

Between the mountains and the car was a rocky valley with sparse vegetation: thorn bushes, cacti, and yucca Life that insisted on surviving in an environment that didn't support it And an immense white expanse the size of five football fields stood out in the middle of it all It

reflected the morning sun, and resembled a field of snow

“Salt A salt lake.”

Yes This desert must once have been the bed of an ocean Once a year, seagulls from the Pacific Ocean flew the hundreds of miles to this desert to eat the species of shrimp that

appeared when the rains began Human beings may forget their origins, but nature, never

“It must be about three miles from here,” Chris said

Paulo checked his watch It was still early They had looked to the horizon and it had shown them a salt lake One hour's walk there, another to return, no risk of the midday sun

Each placed a canteen of water on their belt Paulo put his cigarettes and a Bible in a small bag When they arrived at the lake, he was going to suggest that they read a passage from it, chosen

at random

THEY BEGAN TO WALK CHRIS KEPT HER EYES FIXED on the horizon whenever possible Although it was a simple thing to be doing, something strange was happening: She felt better, freer, as if her internal energy had been increased For the first time in many years, she regretted not having taken a more intense interest in Paulo's “Conspiracy.” She had always imagined difficult rituals that only those who were prepared and disciplined could perform

They walked at a leisurely pace for half an hour The lake appeared to have shifted its location;

it always seemed to be at the same distance from them

They walked for another hour They must already have covered four miles or so, but the lake

appeared to be only a bit closer.

It was no longer early morning, and the heat of the sun was building

Paulo looked back He could see the car, a tiny red point in the distance but still

visible–impossible to become lost And when he looked at the car, he saw something else that was important

“Let's stop here,” he said

They left the path they were taking and walked to a boulder They huddled in close to it,

because it cast only a very small shadow In the desert, shadows appear only early in the

morning or late in the afternoon, and then only near the rocks

“Our calculation was wrong,” he said

Chris had already noticed that She was surprised, because Paulo was good at estimating

distances, and he had trusted her guess of three or four miles

“I know how we went wrong,” he said “There's nothing in the desert to base comparisons on We're used to calculating distance based on the size of things We know the approximate size of

a tree, or a telephone pole, or a house They help us to decide whether things are near or far away.”

Here, there was no point of reference There were rocks they'd never seen, mountains whose size they could not estimate, and only the sparse vegetation Paulo had realized this as he looked back at the car And he could see that they had walked more than four miles

“Let's rest a while, and then we'll go back.”

That's all right, Chris thought She was fascinated with the idea of continuing to look out at the

horizon It was a completely new experience for her

“This business of looking at the horizon, Paulo…” Chris paused

He waited, knowing that she would continue He knew that she was worried that she might say something silly, or find some esoteric meaning in things, as many do who know only a little about the path

“It seems as if…I don't know…I can't explain it…as if my soul has grown.”

Yes, Paulo thought She's on the right track.

“Before, I looked in the distance, and things in the distance seemed really far, you know? They

seemed not to be a part of my world Because I was used to looking only at things that were close, the things around me

“But, two days ago, I got used to looking into the distance And I saw that besides tables, chairs, and objects, my world also included the mountains, clouds, the sky And my soul–my

soul seems to have eyes that it uses to touch those things.”

Wow! That's a great way of saying it, Paulo thought.

“My soul seems to have grown,” Chris repeated

He opened the bag, took out his cigarettes, and lit one before speaking

“Anyone can see that But we're always looking at the things that are closest to us Looking down and inward So our power diminishes, and using your term, our soul shrinks

“Because our soul includes nothing but ourselves It doesn't include oceans, mountains, other people; it doesn't even include the walls of the houses where we live.”

Paulo liked the expression “My soul has grown.” If he had been talking with another member of the Tradition, there's no doubt that he would have heard much more complicated explanations, such as “My consciousness expanded.” But the term his wife had used was more exact

He finished his cigarette There was no point in insisting that they make it to the lake; the temperature would soon reach 110 in the shade The car was far away, but visible, and in an hour and a half they'd be back to it

They started walking Surrounded by the desert, by the huge horizon, a feeling of freedom began

to grow in their souls

“Let's take off our clothes,” Paulo said

“But someone might be watching,” Chris said automatically

Paulo laughed They could see for miles around them The day before, when they had been out walking all morning and afternoon, only two cars had passed–and, even then, they had heard the sound of their approach long before the cars had appeared The desert was the sun, the wind, and the silence

“Only our angels are watching,” he answered “And they've already seen us naked many times.”

He took off his shorts and his shirt and the canteen, placing them all in the bag

Chris struggled to keep from laughing She took her clothes off too, and in a few moments they were two people crossing the Mojave in their sneakers, their hats, and their sunglasses–one of them carrying a bag Anyone watching would find it hilarious

THEY WALKED FOR HALF AN HOUR THE CAR WAS STILL just a point on the horizon, but–in contrast to the lake–it was growing in size as they approached it They would be there in a short while

Suddenly, Chris felt tremendously tired

“Let's rest for a few minutes,” she said.

Paulo stopped immediately, saying, “I can't carry this bag anymore I'm really tired.”

How could be not be able to carry the bag? Even with everything it held, it couldn't weigh more than six or seven pounds.

“You have to carry it The water's in there.”

Right, he had to carry it.

“Well then, let's get going,” he said irritably

Everything was so romantic just a few minutes ago, thought Chris And now he was irritated

Well, forget it She was tired, too

They walked a bit farther, and their exhaustion worsened If it were up to her, nothing more would be said–she didn't want to make things worse

What a dope, she thought To get angry in the midst of such beauty, and right after they had

been talking about such interesting things as…

She couldn't remember, but it wasn't important She was too tired to think now

Paulo stopped and put the bag down in the sand

“Let's rest,” he said

He didn't seem irritated now He must be getting tired, too Just like her

There was no shade But she needed to rest

They sat down on the hot sand The fact that they were naked and that the ground burned their skin didn't matter They had to stop Just for a while

She remembered what they had been discussing: horizons She noticed that now, even without wanting to, she had the feeling that her soul had grown And it seemed like her second mind had stopped working altogether She didn't think of melodies or repetitious things, and she didn't even care if someone was watching them walk naked across the desert

Nothing was important She felt relaxed, unworried, free

They sat there for a few minutes in silence It was hot, but the sun didn't bother them If it started to, they had plenty of water

He stood up first

“I think we had better keep walking It's not far to the car now We'll rest in the air-conditioning when we get there.”

She was sleepy She just wanted to nap for a bit But she got up, anyway.

They walked a bit farther, and now the car was getting close Not more than ten minutes to walk

“Since we're so close, let's sleep for a while Five minutes.”

Sleep for five minutes? Why would he say that? Was he reading her mind? There couldn't be any problem with sleeping for just five minutes They could get a good tan, as if they'd been to the beach

They sat down again They had been walking for half an hour, not counting their pauses Why couldn't they just sleep for five minutes or so?

They heard the sound of a motor Half an hour earlier, she would have leaped up and dressed in

a hurry But now, so what? It didn't matter at all Let anyone look who wants to look It didn't make any difference to her She just wanted to sleep

Paulo and Chris watched calmly as a truck drove down the road, passed their car, and stopped just beyond A man got out and walked toward the vehicle He looked inside, then walked around the car, examining everything

Might be a thief, Paulo thought He imagined the guy stealing the car, leaving them both

stranded in the desert with no way to get back The key was in the ignition–he hadn't taken it with him for fear of losing it

But they were in the Mojave Desert In New York, maybe But here–no one stole cars here.Chris looked out at the desert It was golden and beautiful Golden Different from the pinkness

of the desert at sundown

An agreeable feeling of relaxation permeated her entire body The sun didn't bother her–people didn't know how lovely the desert could be during the day!

The man gave up his inspection of the car, and placed his hand above his eyes He was looking for them

She was naked…and he would surely see that So what? Paulo didn't seem worried, either.The man began walking toward them The feeling of lightness and euphoria was increasing, but exhaustion kept them from moving The desert was golden and beautiful Everything was serene, at peace–the angels, yes, the angels would appear before long That was what they had come to the desert for–to talk with their angels!

She was naked, and she was not ashamed

The man stopped when he reached them What language was he speaking? They couldn't understand what he was saying

Paulo tried to concentrate on what he was hearing, and realized that the man was speaking English After all, they were in the United States.

“Come with me,” the man said

“We want to rest,” Paulo said “Five minutes.”

The man picked up the bag and opened it

“Put this on,” he said to Chris, handing her clothing to her

She forced herself to get up, and did as he said She was too tired to argue

He ordered Paulo to do the same, and Paulo was also too tired to argue The man saw the canteens filled with water, opened one of them, filled the cap, and ordered them to drink

They weren't thirsty But they did as the man said They were quite calm, and completely at peace with the world–and they had no desire to argue

They would do anything they were told to do, obey any order, so long as they were left in peace

“Let's walk,” the man said

They couldn't even think They sat there gazing at the desert They would do anything so long

as the stranger left them alone

But the man escorted them to the car, told them to get in, and started the engine “I wonder where he's taking us,” Paulo thought But he wasn't worried–the world was at peace, and the only thing he wanted to do was sleep Surely his angel would appear before long

PAULO AWOKE WITH HIS STOMACH CHURNING, AND A tremendous need to vomit

“Lie still for a while longer.”

Someone was speaking to him, but in his head there was only confusion He still remembered the golden paradise where all had been serene and peaceful

He tried to move, and felt as if thousands of needles were sticking into his head

I think I'll go back to sleep, he thought But he couldn't–the needles wouldn't allow it And his

stomach was still turning over

“I want to throw up,” he said

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was sitting in a kind of mini-market: He could see several refrigerator cabinets with soft drinks and shelves with foodstuffs The sight of the food made him feel nauseated again Then he noticed nearby a man he had never seen before

The man helped him to get up In addition to the imaginary needles in his head, Paulo realized that he had another in his arm Only this one was real.

The man held the needle in place and helped Paulo to the bathroom, where he vomited some water, nothing more

“What's happening? What's this needle for?”

It was Chris, speaking Portuguese He returned to the store and saw that she was sitting up, too, with a needle in her arm

Paulo felt a little better now, and no longer needed the man's support He helped Chris up and

to the bathroom, where she vomited

“I'm going to use your car to get back to mine,” the stranger said “I'll leave the keys in the ignition You can get a ride to it when you're ready.”

Paulo was starting to remember what had happened, but the nausea had returned, and he had to vomit again

When he came back, the man had left, but a boy of seventeen or eighteen was there

“Just another hour,” the boy said “The solution will be used up then, and you can go.”

“What time is it?”

The boy told them Paulo struggled to get up–he had an appointment, and there was no way he was going to miss it

“I have to meet with Gene,” he said to Chris

“Sit down,” the boy said “Not until the solution is used up.”

The comment was unnecessary Paulo no longer had either the strength or desire to walk even

to the door

I've missed the meeting, he thought But at this point, nothing mattered The less he thought

about, the better

“FIFTEEN MINUTES,” GENE SAID “THAT'S ALL IT TAKES, and without even realizing what's happening, you die.”

They were back at the old trailer It was the afternoon of the next day, and the entire scene was bathed in pink Nothing like the desert of the previous day–golden, peaceful, nausea, vomiting.They hadn't been able to eat or sleep for twenty-four hours–they threw up everything they tried

to eat But now that strange sensation was passing

“It's good that your horizon had been expanded And that you were thinking about angels An angel appeared.”

Paulo thought it would be better to have said “Your soul had grown.” Besides, the guy who had appeared wasn't an angel–he had an old truck, and he spoke English

“Let's get going,” said Gene, asking Paulo to start the car He took the passenger seat, with no show of ceremony And Chris, grumbling in Portuguese, climbed into the back

Gene began to give instructions–take that road there, go for a few miles, drive fast so that the car gets cool inside, turn off the air-conditioning so the motor doesn't overheat Several times they drove off the narrow dirt road into the desert But Gene knew what he was doing He wasn't going to make the same mistakes they had

“What happened yesterday?” Chris asked for the hundredth time She knew that Gene wanted her to ask He might already have seen his guardian angel, but he acted like any other young man his age

“Sunstroke,” he finally explained “Haven't either of you ever seen a film about the desert?”

Of course they had Thirsty men, dragging themselves across the sand in search of a drop of water

“We didn't feel thirsty at all The two canteens were filled with water.”

“That's not what I'm talking about,” the American interrupted “I mean your clothing.”

The clothing! The Arabs with their long robes, and several hoods–one on top of the other Of course, how stupid we were! Paulo had already heard about that, and he'd already walked across three other deserts…and he had never felt the desire to take his clothes off But here, that

morning, after the frustration of the lake that they seemed never to reach… How could I have

had such a stupid idea? he thought.

“When you took off your clothes, the water in your bodies began to evaporate immediately You can't even perspire, because the climate is so dry In fifteen minutes, you were both already dehydrated No thirst or anything–just a slight feeling of disorientation.”

“And the exhaustion?”

“That exhaustion is death arriving.”

I sure didn't know it was death arriving, Chris said to herself If someday she had to choose an

easy way to leave the world behind, she would come back and take off her clothing in the middle of the desert

“Most people who die in the desert die with water in their canteen The dehydration is so rapid that we feel as if we've drunk an entire bottle of whiskey, or taken an overdose of some

tranquilizer.” He suggested that, starting now, they drink water periodically–even if they weren't

thirsty–because their bodies needed the water.

“But an angel did appear,” Gene said

Before Paulo could say what he was thinking, Gene ordered him to stop at the foot of a cliff

“Let's get out here and go the rest of the way on foot.”

They began to walk along a narrow path that led to the top of the cliff Before they had gone far, Gene realized he had forgotten the flashlight from the car He went back, picked it up, and sat on the hood of the car for some time, staring out at the desert

Chris is right; solitude does strange things to people He's behaving strangely, Paulo thought as

he watched the youth down below

But, a few seconds later, Gene had climbed the narrow path again, and they pushed on

In forty minutes, with no great difficulty, they had reached the top There was some sparse vegetation there, and Gene asked that they sit down facing north His attitude, usually

expansive, had changed–he seemed more distant, and looked as if he were concentrating hard

“You've both come here in search of angels,” he said, sitting down at their side

“That's what I came for,” Paulo said “And I know that you have spoken with one.”

“Forget about my angel Many people in this desert have already seen or conversed with their angel So have a lot of people in cities, or at sea, or in the mountains.”

There was a tone of impatience in his voice

“Think about your guardian angels,” he continued “Because my angel is here, and I can see

him This is my holy place.”

Both Paulo and Chris thought back to their first night in the desert And they imagined their angels once again, with their raiment and their wings

“You must always have a holy place Mine once was a small apartment, and at another time, a square in the middle of Los Angeles Now it's here A sacred hymn opens a gate to heaven, and heaven appears.”

They both looked around at Gene's holy place: the rocks, the hard ground, the desert plants Perhaps snakes and coyotes passed through here at night, too

Gene appeared to be in a trance

“It was here that I was first able to see my angel, although I knew that the angel was

everywhere, and that the angel's face is the face of the desert I live in, or of the city where I lived for eighteen years

“I was able to talk with my angel because I had faith that the angel existed And because I loved

my angel.”

Neither Chris nor Paulo dared ask what they had talked about

Gene went on, “Everyone can make contact with four different kinds of entities in the invisible world: the elementals, the disembodied spirits, the saints, and the angels

“The elementals are the vibrations of things in nature–fire, earth, water, and air–and we make contact with them using rituals These are pure forces–like earthquakes, lightning, or volcanoes Because we need to understand them as 'beings,' they traditionally appear in the form of dwarfs, fairies, or salamanders But all one can do is use the power of the elementals–we never learn anything from them.”

Why is he saying all this? Paulo thought Has he forgotten that I'm a master of magic, too?

Gene continued his explanation, “The disembodied spirits are those that wander between one life and another, and we make contact with them by means of a medium Some are great

masters–but all that they teach us we can learn on earth, because that's where they learned what they know Better, then, to let them wander in the direction of their next step, to look out at the

horizon, and to take from here the same wisdom as they did.”

Paulo must know all about this, Chris thought He's probably talking to me.

YES, GENE WAS SPEAKING TO CHRIS–IT WAS BECAUSE she was here that he was here There was nothing he could teach Paulo, twenty years older than he and more experienced, and who,

on his own, would surely find the way to talk with his angel Paulo was one of J.'s disciples–and the things Gene had heard about J.! At their first meeting, Gene had tried in various ways to get the Brazilian to talk, but the woman had made it impossible He was unable to learn anything about the techniques, the processes, or the rituals used by J

That first meeting had been deeply disappointing for him He thought that the Brazilian might

be using J.'s name without the master's knowledge Or–who knows?–perhaps J had made a mistake for the first time in his selection of a disciple And if that were the case, the entire Tradition would soon know about it But that night of their meeting, he had dreamed of his guardian angel

And his angel had asked that he initiate the woman into the path of magic Just initiate her: Her husband would do the rest

In the dream, he argued that he had already taught her about the second mind, and had asked that she look out at the horizon The angel said that Gene should pay attention to the man, but that he should take care of the woman And then the angel disappeared

Gene was trained to be disciplined So he was now doing what the angel had commanded–and

he hoped that it was being observed up above.

“After the disembodied spirits,” he continued, “the saints appear These are the true masters They lived among us at one time, and are now closer to the light The great teachings of the saints are their lives here on earth Contained in them are all we need to know, and all we have

to do is imitate them.”

“How do we invoke the saints?” Chris asked

“Through prayer,” Paulo answered, cutting Gene off

He wasn't jealous–although it was clear to him that the American wanted to impress Chris He

respects the Tradition He's going to use my wife as a means of reaching me But why is he being so basic, talking about things that I already know so well? he thought.

“We invoke the saints through constant prayer,” Paulo continued “And when they are near, everything changes Miracles happen.”

Gene couldn't help but notice the Brazilian's hostile, almost aggressive tone of voice But he wasn't going to say anything about his dream of the angel, because he didn't owe this man anything

“Finally,” Gene said, “there are the angels.”

Perhaps Paulo didn't know about this part, even though he seemed to know many other things Gene paused for a few moments He sat there silently praying, and remembered his angel, and hoped that he was hearing every word And he asked that his angel help him to be clear,

because–my God!–it was so difficult to explain

“Angels are love in motion They never rest, they struggle to grow, and they are beyond good and evil Love that consumes all, that destroys all, that forgives all Angels are made of that love, and are at the same time its messengers

“The love of the exterminating angel, who one day will take away our soul, and of the guardian angel, who brings our soul back Love in motion.”

“Love at war,” Chris said

“There is no love in peace Whoever seeks peace is lost.”

What does a boy like this know about love? He lives alone in the desert, and has never been in love, Chris thought Meanwhile, no matter how hard she tried, she could think of not one

moment when love had ever brought her peace It was always accompanied by agony, intense joy, and deep sadness

Gene turned to them “Let's be silent for a while, so that our angels can hear the love that exists

beyond our silence.”

Chris was still thinking about love Yes, the boy seemed to be right, although she could swear

that all of his knowledge was theoretical Love comes to rest only when we are close to death

How strange How strange was everything that she was experiencing, especially the sensation

that her soul had grown

She had never asked Paulo to teach her anything–she believed in God, and that was sufficient She respected her husband's search, but–perhaps because she was so close to him, or because she knew that he had the same defects as other men–she had never taken an interest in it.But she didn't know Gene He had said: “Try to look at the horizon Pay attention to your second mind.” And she had done so Now, with her soul that had grown, she was discovering how good it was, and how much time she had wasted before

“Why do we need to speak with our angels?” Chris asked, breaking the silence

“To discover through them,” replied Gene

Gene wasn't bothered by the comment If she had asked the question of Paulo, he would have been angry

They said an Our Father and a Hail Mary Then the American said that they could go back down

“That's it?” Paulo asked, disappointed

“I wanted to bring you here so my angel could see that I had done as my angel asked,” Gene answered “I have nothing else to teach you If you want to learn more, seek out the Valkyries.”

THEY MADE THE RETURN TRIP IN AWKWARD SILENCE, interrupted only when Gene had to indicate which turn should be taken No one was interested in conversation–Paulo, because he thought that Gene had tricked him; Chris, because Paulo might be irritated at her comments, feeling that she was spoiling everything; and Gene, because he knew that the Brazilians were disappointed, and because of this, would not talk about J and his techniques

“You are wrong about one thing,” Paulo said when they arrived at the trailer “It was not an angel that we met up with yesterday It was a guy driving a truck.”

For a fraction of a second, Chris thought there would be no response–the hostility between the two men was growing stronger and stronger The American turned and began to walk in the direction of his home, but suddenly he stopped

“I want to tell you a story my father told me,” he said “A master and his disciple were walking together in the desert The master was teaching his charge that he could always trust in God, since he was aware of everything

“Night fell, and they decided to pitch camp The master raised the tent, and the disciple was given the assignment of tethering the horses to a rock But, as he stood by the rock, he thought

to himself: The master is testing me He said that God is aware of everything, and then asked me

to tie up the horses He wants to see whether or not I believe in God.

“Instead of tethering the animals, he said a long prayer, and left the fate of the horses in God's hands

“Next day, when they awoke, the horses were gone Disappointed, the disciple complained to the master, saying that he no longer believed in him, since God had not taken care of everything, and had forgotten to watch over the horses

“'You are wrong,' the master answered 'God wanted to take care of the horses But in order to

do so, he needed to make use of your hands to tether them to the stone.'”

THE YOUNG MAN LIT A SMALL GAS LANTERN THAT WAS hanging outside the trailer The light dimmed the brilliance of the stars somewhat

“When we begin to think about our angels, they begin to manifest themselves Their presence becomes closer and closer, more real But, at the beginning, angels show themselves as they have done throughout our life: through others

“Your angel used that man He must have been caused to leave his home early–something must have changed in his routine, altering everything so that he could be there just at the moment that you needed him That is a miracle Do not try to regard it as a common event.”

Paulo said nothing

“Look,” Gene explained “When we were climbing the mountain, I forgot the flashlight,” Gene went on “You probably noticed that I was back at the car for quite a while Whenever I forget something on leaving the house, I feel that my guardian angel is in action, causing me to lose a few seconds–and this short time interval may signify important things It may allow me to avoid

an accident, or cause me to run into someone I need to see

“So, after I get what I've forgotten, I always sit down and count to twenty That way, the angel has time to take action An angel uses many instruments.”

Gene asked Paulo to wait where he was for a few moments He entered the trailer, and returned with a map “The last time I saw the Valkyries, it was here.”

He pointed to a place on the map Chris realized that the animosity between the two seemed to have lessened

“Take care of her,” Gene said “It's a good thing that she came with you.”

“I think so,” Paulo said “Thank you for everything.”

And they said good-bye.

“WHAT A FOOL I'VE BEEN,” PAULO SAID, PUNCHING THE steering wheel as they drove away

“What do you mean, a fool? I thought you were jealous!”

But Paulo was laughing, in a good mood

“Four processes! And he only said three! It's through the fourth process that you converse with your angel!”

He looked at Chris, and his eyes were gleaming with the joy of discovery

“The fourth process: channeling!”

ALMOST TEN DAYS IN THE DESERT THEY STOPPED AT ONE place where the ground had opened in a series of wounds, as if prehistoric rivers had run through there, dozens of them, leaving long, deep arroyos that were becoming larger through the action of the sun

In those parts, not even the scorpions could survive, much less snakes, coyotes, or the

ever-present tumbleweed The desert was full of such places, known as badlands

The two entered into one of the immense wounds The earthen walls were high, and all that could be seen was a tortuous path, with no beginning or end

They were no longer irresponsible adventurers, feeling that nothing could harm them The desert had its laws, and killed those who did not respect them They had learned what the laws

were–the sound of the rattlesnake, the hours that it was safe to be out there, the precautions Before entering the badlands, they had left a note in the car saying where they were going Even

if it were only for half an hour, and it appeared to be unnecessary, ridiculous, a car might stop, and someone would see the note and know what direction they had taken They had to facilitate the instruments of their guardian angels

They were looking for the Valkyries Not there, at the end of the world–because nothing living could survive for long in those badlands There–well, this was just training For Chris

But they knew that the Valkyries were nearby, because they saw the signs They lived in the desert, never staying for long in one place–but they left signs

Paulo and Chris had found some clues At the beginning, they had stopped at one small town after another, asking about the Valkyries, and no one had ever heard of them The directions Gene had given them were of no use–they had probably long ago passed by the spot on the map

he had shown them But one day, in a bar, they met a boy who remembered having read

something about them He described the way the Valkyries dressed, and the signs they left

They began to ask others about women who were dressed that way Some responded with obvious disapproval, saying the Valkyries had passed by a month ago, a week ago, three days ago.

Finally, they had reached a place that seemed to be just a day's travel from where the Valkyries should be

THE SUN WAS ALREADY NEAR THE HORIZON–OR THEY would not have risked being out in the desert The earthen walls cast shadows It was the perfect place

Chris couldn't stand to repeat the whole thing yet again But she had to–she hadn't yet achieved any meaningful results

“Sit there With your back to the sun.”

She did as Paulo said And then, automatically, she began to relax She sat cross-legged, with her eyes closed–but she could feel the entire desert surrounding her Her soul had been swelling during these days in the desert, and she knew that her world had expanded It was more vast than it had been two weeks earlier

“Concentrate on your second mind,” he said

Chris sensed an inhibited tone in his voice He could not act toward her in the same way as he did with other disciples–after all, she knew his faults and weaknesses But Paulo made a

supreme effort to act as a master would, and she respected him for that

She concentrated on her second mind She allowed all thoughts to come to mind–and, as always, they were absurd thoughts for someone who was in the middle of the desert For the past three days, whenever she had tried the exercise, she realized that her automatic thinking was very much concerned with whom she should invite to her birthday celebration–three months from now

But Paulo had asked that she not be concerned about that That she allow her concerns to flow freely

“Let's start from the beginning again,” he said

“I'm thinking about my party.”

“Don't fight your thoughts They are stronger than you are,” Paulo said for the thousandth time

“If you want to rid yourself of them, accept them Think about what they want you to think about until they grow tired.”

She went over her list of invitations She rejected some She substituted others This was the first step: Pay attention to the second mind until it grew tired

Now, the birthday celebration disappeared more quickly than before But she was still

composing the list It was unbelievable how a subject like that could demand her attention for

so many days, occupy hours when she could be thinking of more interesting things

“Think until you are tired Then, when you are tired, open the channel.”

Paulo walked away from his wife and leaned against the wall Gene was an expert, and took very seriously the business of not being able to teach anything to the disciple of another master But, through Chris, he had given Paulo all of the clues that he needed

The fourth way of communicating with the invisible world was channeling

Channeling! How many times had he seen people in their cars in the midst of a traffic snarl, talking to themselves, without realizing that they were performing one of the most sophisticated

of the magical processes! But, because of its extreme simplicity, all one need do is sit in a quiet place and be attentive to the thoughts that emerge from the bottom of one's mind

Channeling has generally been considered a superficial practice Nothing of the kind! Since the beginnings of humanity, people have known that, if they wanted to enter into contact with God, they had to make room in their soul They had to allow their spiritual energy to manifest itself, and to create a bridge between the visible and the invisible

How can one create such a bridge? Various mystical processes address the importance of “not being.” Relax, allow the mind to become empty, and surprise yourself with the great treasure that begins to flow from your soul The word inspiration means exactly that: the bringing in of air, allowing oneself to drink from an unknown source

Channeling required no loss of awareness during the contact with the spirits; it was a more natural process for a person to use in order to plunge into the unknown It allowed for contact with the Holy Spirit, with the soul of the world, with the enlightened masters No ritual was needed, no incorporation, nothing Every human being knew, subconsciously, that there was a bridge available to the invisible, a bridge one could cross without fear

And everyone tried to do so, even without being aware of it Everyone surprised themselves, saying things they had never thought before, giving advice of the “I don't know why I'm saying this” type, doing certain things that didn't appear to make sense

And everyone liked to spend time observing nature's miracles–a thunderstorm, a sunset–ready to enter into contact with the universal wisdom, think about things that were truly important.But at such times, the invisible wall would appear: the second mind

The second mind was there, barring the entrance, with its repetitive ideas, its unimportant problems, its melodies, its financial problems, its unresolved passions

He stood and approached Chris

“Be patient, and listen to everything your second mind has to say Don't respond Don't argue It

will get tired.”

Once again, Chris went over the invitation list, even though she had already lost interest in it When she finished, she put a period to it

And she opened her eyes

There she was, in that wound in the earth She felt the still air that surrounded her

“Open the channel Begin to speak.”

Speak!

She had always been fearful of speaking out, of seeming ridiculous, stupid Fearful of learning what others thought of what she said, because they always seemed more capable, more

intelligent Always seemed to have an answer for everything

But now she was here, and she had to have the courage even to say things that made no sense, that were absurd Paulo had explained that this was one way of channeling: speak Conquer your second mind, and allow the universe to do what it wanted with it

She began to move her head back and forth, wanting to do all that, and suddenly she wanted to make strange noises And she did so It wasn't ridiculous She was free to do as she pleased.She had no idea where these things came from–but they were coming from within, from the bottom of her soul, and manifesting themselves From time to time, her second mind returned with its concerns, and Chris tried to organize them, but that's the way it had to be–no logic, no censure, but rather the joy of a warrior entering into an unknown world She needed to speak the pure language of the heart

Paulo listened in silence, and Chris felt his presence She was totally aware, but free She could not concern herself with what he was thinking–she had to continue to speak, making the

gestures that came to her, singing the strange melodies Yes, everything must make some kind

of sense, because she had never heard these sounds before, these melodies, these words and movements It was difficult, and she had the fear that she was fantasizing things, wanting to appear to be more in contact with the Invisible than she really was But she overcame her fear of the ridiculous, and went on

Today, something different was happening She was no longer doing what she did out of

obligation, as in the first days She was enjoying herself And she began to feel secure A wave

of security washed back and forth, and Chris tried desperately to go with it

In order to keep the wave close to her, she had to speak Say anything that came to mind

“I see the earth.” Her voice was hesitant, calm, even though her second mind made an

appearance from time to time, saying that Paulo must be finding all of this ridiculous “We are in

a safe place, we can stay here tonight, lie here and look up at the stars and talk of angels There are no scorpions, no snakes, no coyotes

“The planet set aside certain places for itself It tells us to go away In those places, without the millions of life forms that walk on its surface, the earth is able to be alone She also needs her solitude, for she needs to understand herself.”

Why am I saying that? He's going to think I'm showing off I'm aware!

Paulo looked around The dry bed of the river seemed gentle, smooth But it inspired a terror of total solitude, of the complete absence of life

“Say a prayer,” Chris went on Her second mind was no longer able to make her feel ridiculous.But suddenly, she felt fear Fear of not knowing which prayer, of not knowing how to continue.And when she felt the fear, her second mind returned–and the ridicule, the shame, the concern about Paulo returned with it After all, he was the Magus–he knew more than she, and must think all of this was phony

She took a deep breath She concentrated on the present, on the earth where nothing grew, on the sun that was already hidden Bit by bit, the wave of security came back–like a miracle

“Say a prayer,” she repeated

And it is going to echo

clearly

against the sky

when I come along

making my noise

She sat there in silence for a while, sensing that she had given her all, and that the channeling had ended Then she turned to him

“I went very far today It's never happened that way.”

Paulo caressed her face and kissed her She didn't know whether he was doing that out of pity

or pride

“Let's go,” he said “Let's respect the earth's desire.”

“Maybe he is saying that to give me a stimulus, to get me to try to continue channeling,” she thought But she was certain–something had happened She hadn't invented all that

“The prayer?” she asked, fearful of his answer

“It's an ancient indigenous chant From the Ojibway shamans.”